SRS Car: Toyota Supra Twin Turbo

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It's the Japanese muscle car.

By Mitch Boyer

Whew! Things have been busy around here lately! HOT IMPORT NIGHTS Dallas was SICK! Everything is bigger in Texas, and the Street racing scene is no exception. We had Chunky Bai's S15 at the SRS booth which was gawddamn A-mazing up close, and it drew a crowd almost as large as the one surrounding the game.

Better still, it seemed like there were a hundred racers to every cop on the streets of Dallas. Amazing. (With all due respect to any police readers) I wish California was like that. It's cop central here in the SF Bay these days. Takes the fun out of commuting (Just ask Rob, our Producer--He's down to ONE point on his license).

So, SRS is on it's way through the magic process that will put it in stores on August 31st. And as such, the "SRS Car of the week" feature is only a few weeks away from wrapping up. So let's get down to business.

A few months ago some of you might remember me talking about Hollywood's take on the world of "Illegal Street Racing"; the "love it or hate it" movie that put "NOS" in the vocabulary of high school students across the country.

Back then, we were talking about Eclipses. 20,000 dollar sport compacts that can be tuned to hang with with the big boys. Well, some of the big boys. But even Eclipse tuners have to stand in awe when someone says the word...SUPRA.

The word didn't always enjoy the respect it has today. The Supra's beginnings we're humble. Back in the days of roller rinks and AC/DC 8 track cassettes (enjoy your iPod, youngsters) there was the Celica. Unlike the modern Celica, the 1970's era model was a little car, scoffed at by Firebird driving Burt Reynolds fans. Then came the 80's (okay, '79), and with it a new kind of Celica...the Celica SUPRA! But it wasn't Super. It's suspension was better suited for back seat lovin' than high speed racing and everyone knew it. It made due with a Single Overhead Cam CRESSIDA engine for f**k's sake. But hey, it was better than the Celica, and a step in the right direction, with disc brakes all around.

In 1981 another Celica Supra was released. It was DOHC this time around, and had independent rear suspension, but was still basically a Celica.

By 1986 the first true SUPRA was born. No longer just a "sporty" Celica, this Supra was designed to to stand on it's own. Toyota went all out with it's new Flagship. It sported a new engine design (the 7M-GTE) built around a 3 liter inline six cylinder engine and --get this-- a TURBO and INTERCOOLER!! This packed 230 bhp @ 5600 rpm. Impressive stuff in '86. Sadly, Toyota released the car in America WITHOUT the turbo and intercooler. This dropped output to 200 bhp. And the car wasn't light at over 3400 lbs. Critics panned the styling as being "generic" and overly conservative (looking eerily like a Porsche 944 knock off). But again, it made strides of progress with reworked suspension geometry, fatty (for the day) tires, improved brakes, and Toyota's TEMS "Electronic Modulated Suspension" for on the fly selectable shock absorber rates. Just press "Sport" and go. But was it a true sports car? Not really. The third generation Supra was more of a Grand Tourer.

In '87 the 3rd Gen Turbo and intercooler setup finally came stateside in the "Supra Turbo" and caught the attention of the mullet crowd. Still, the Supra was not quite an icon. Perhaps it was the extra gristle, which took it's weight up to a portly 3600 pounds (if you got the sport roof). It's 6.8 psi of boost was commendable, but not enough to lay a solid claim to the throne held by domestic muscle, or exotic style.

But that would all change in 1993 with the forth generation Supra...the JZA80. This is the Supra that has become legendary. THIS is the Supra you will use in SRS to lay waste to the competition.